Mariko and The Shin will represent Georgia!

So it seems that we have a Georgian representative! Come the 8th of May, we will see Mariko Ebralidze and the group The Shin take the stage in Copenhagen on behalf of Georgia! But who exactly are they and do we have any idea of the sort of genre they’ll sing at Eurovision? Well, you’re about to find out!

Mariko and The Shin will be the Georgian representatives in May!

So yesterday, on the same day that we found out the hosts of the 2014 Contest (more info on that later!), we found out, thanks to Sophie and Nodi (Georgia’s representatives in Malmö) that it would be indeed Mariko Ebralidze and The Shin who would be representing Georgia in Denmark. Mariko, who’s thirty years old and looks an awful lot like the long haired woman from Urban Trad, is a popular jazz singer in Georgia who sings regularly with the Tbilisi Big Band Orchestra (Is it possible to bring one of the members with them?). Here’s one of Mariko’s many ‘larger-than-life’ performances with the Big Band:

Now, Mariko won’t be performing alone on the night in Denmark. Oh no, she’ll be accompanied by popular Georgian band The Shin; a group that started in Germany, but is considered to be one of Georgia’s biggest exports. The band use very ethnic instruments and such to create very individual Georgian folk music with no lyrics. Recently, they’ve released some very notable projects such as the “Black Sea Fire” project back in 2009. Here’s one of the tracks from that project – “To the Hidden Coast”.

So what are we expecting to see from Georgia at Eurovision now we know that Mariko and The Shin will go to Eurovision? Well, two musical genres will definitely be making some weird form of combination – jazz and folk – and, judging from what I’ve heard from them individually, when they’re to come together I’m not exactly sure what to expect. For sure, the worst case scenario is “Narodnozabavni rock 2.0”, but best case scenario…well I’m not sure, maybe something like “Visionary Dream”? It would have been great to see one of our recommendations go to Eurovision, but c’est la vie I suppose! We’ll have to wait and see until the song is released, which has yet to be decided. So what do you think about Georgia’s choice?

Your views:

Have Georgia made the right choice?

Nadine Glöck from Germany: I think folk music would be great from Georgia!

Temuri Ikoshvili from Georgia: I hate the choice of my country!!

Paweł Kalinowski from Poland: Ethno & jazz? Interesting..

Orxan Agayev from Azerbaijan: It’s perfect!

So it seems that Mariko and The Shin have been received with mixed views from the Eurovision fans. Of course, this will change as the Contest gets closer and the song is revealed, but in the meantime, they shall remain in the “meh…” set of artists for this year’s Eurovision. But what do you think of the choice? Did they make a mistake or have they hit it on the nail? Feel free to tell us what you think by commenting below!

P.S. We’re so sorry that this wasn’t posted earlier, but it was my birthday yesterday so we have an excuse! Sorry!!